Where the Wild Things Are (film)

Where the Wild Things Are
The Wild Thing named Carol towering over a small boy named Max, who is wearing a wolf suit.
American theatrical release poster
Directed bySpike Jonze
Screenplay by
Based onWhere the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyLance Acord
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Warner Bros. Pictures (Worldwide)
  • Roadshow Films (Australia & New Zealand)
Release dates
  • 13 October 2009 (2009-10-13) (New York City)
  • 16 October 2009 (2009-10-16) (United States)
  • 3 December 2009 (2009-12-03) (Australia)
  • 17 December 2009 (2009-12-17) (Germany)
Running time
101 minutes[3]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million[3]
Box office$100.1 million[3]

Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy adventure drama film directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, it is based on Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same name. It combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film stars Max Records, Catherine Keener, and Mark Ruffalo, and features the voices of Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Forest Whitaker. The film centers on a lonely young boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max their king.

In the early 1980s, The Walt Disney Company considered adapting the book with a blend of traditionally animated characters and computer-generated environments, but development did not go past a test film to see how the animation hybridizing would result.[4] In 1999,[5] Universal Studios acquired rights to the book's adaptation and initially attempted to develop a computer-animated adaptation with Disney animator Eric Goldberg, but the CGI concept was replaced with a live-action one in 2003, and Goldberg was dropped for Jonze. The film was produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Sendak, John Carls, and Vincent Landay, and made with an estimated budget of $100 million.[6] Where the Wild Things Are was a joint production between Australia, Germany, and the United States, and was filmed principally in Melbourne.[7]

Where the Wild Things Are was released on 16 October 2009, in the United States, on 3 December in Australia, and on 17 December in Germany. Despite concerns from within Warner Bros. and news outlets leading up to release over whether or not Jonze's approach to the film was suitable for children, the film was met with positive reviews and appeared on many year-end top ten lists. However, the film was a financial disappointment, grossing just $100 million against a production budget of $100 million. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 2 March 2010.

  1. ^ a b c d "Where the Wild Things Are". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Where the Wild Things Are". AFI Catalog. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Where the Wild Things Are". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference pixar-touch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Spike Jonze goes 'Where the Wild Things Are' - CNN.com". CNN. 14 October 2009.
  7. ^ "Film Victoria - Where The Wild Things Are". Filmed in Melbourne. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.